Charles University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Hradec Králové Field of study: Specialist in laboratory methods Author: Bc. Tomáš Hampl Supervisor: PharmDr. Ondřej Janďourek, Ph.D. Title of diploma thesis: Mycobacterium tuberculosis as causative agent of grave illness The aim of this diploma thesis is to deal with tuberculosis, describe the pathogen, taxonomic classification, describe the origin, course and clinical manifestations of the disease, diagnosis, including laboratory diagnostics, epidemiology of tuberculosis, treatment and prevention. Tuberculosis (TBC) is one of the deadliest infectious diseases in the world caused by bacterium M. tuberculosis in humans. TBC is sometimes referred as a disease of the past, but the recent rise in cases of the disease, and especially the spread of forms of drug-resistant TBC, makes the disease very dangerous. Currently, a major problem is the alarming rise in resistant and multi-resistant tuberculosis, which is not counteracted by commonly used first-line drugs. Therefore, there is a constant emphasis around the world on discovering and testing new potential antituberculotics that could help patients with resistant and multidrug-resistant TBC. In the experimental part, the thesis deals with screening of antimycobacterial activity of potential antituberculotics...

Charles University Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Kralove Department of Biological and Medical Sciences Study program: Specialist on Laboratory Methods Author: Bc. Tereza Pchálková Supervisor: PharmDr. Ondřej Janďourek, Ph.D. Title of diploma thesis: In vitro screening of potential antimycobacterial compounds active against fast growing strains of Mycobacterium genus II Key words: Mycobacteria, Tuberculosis, Antituberculotics, Microdilution broth method, Minimum inhibition concentration Background: The aim of this diploma thesis has been screening of in vitro antimycobacterial activity of novel compounds against fast growing strains of the genus Mycobacterium (Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium aurum). Another aim has been predicting the structure-activity relationships for tested compounds. Methods: The technique used for activity determination was microdilution broth method. The value of minimum inhibition concentration for each compound was determined. The evaluation was performed visually and spectrophotometrically using the Alamar blue indicator. Results: A total of 79 compounds were tested. 22 tested compounds showed significant activity against mycobacteria. The substances were sorted according to the similarity in chemical structure into 10 groups. From a chemical point of view, these...

Charles University, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové Department of Biological and Medical Sciences Study program: Bioanalytical laboratory diagnostics in health care Candidate: Bc. Martina Malíková Thesis supervisor: PharmDr. Ondřej Janďourek, Ph.D. Consultant: RNDr. Irena Hanovcová, CSc. Title of diploma thesis: Effectiveness of disinfectants for hygienic hand disinfection against clinically important strains of enterococci Alcohol-based hand disinfectants for hygienic hand disinfection are a key tool for the control of nosocomial infections worldwide. The aim of this study was to verify the effectiveness of these products, which are used in healthcare facilities, against vancomycin-sensitive and vancomycin-resistant enterococci isolated from clinical materials. Testing of the efficacy of disinfectants was performed according to the Czech technical standard ČSN EN 1040 - Chemical disinfectants and antiseptics - Quantitative test using suspension to determine the basic bactericidal effect of chemical disinfectants and antiseptics - Test method and requirements (phase 1). We used the dilution method with a neutraliser for our testing. There were used a total of 35 strains of enterococci to determine efficacy, 12 of which were vancomycin sensitive (four E. faecium strains and eight E. faecalis...

Charles University Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Kralove Department of Biological and Medical Sciences Study program: Specialist on Laboratory Methods Author: Bc. Lenka Králíková Supervisor: PharmDr. Ondřej Janďourek, Ph.D. Title of diploma: Atypical mycobacteria as causative agents of human diseases The aim of this diploma thesis is to summarize the history of mycobacteria, their classification, epidemiology of nontuberculous infections, clinical significance, diagnosis, resistance, and treatment options. Within the epidemiology, the way of managing tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacterioses is compared. Mycobacterioses are rare diseases, which incidence is gradually increasing with the increasing number of immunocompromised patients. Based on the spot of infection, we divide them into lymphadenitis, skin lesions, lung disease and disseminated infections. The most frequently isolated pathogens are Mycobacterium avium complex, Mycobacterium ulcerans, Mycobacterium abscessus, Mycobacterium marinum and Mycobacterium kansasii. The experimental part is devoted to the antimycobacterial activity of newly synthesized compounds, which could find application in the future in the treatment of tuberculosis and other mycobacterioses. Substance testing was performed on strains of the genus Mycobacterium...

MSc (Microbiology) / Department of Microbiology / BACKGROUND: Antibiotic resistance amongst microbial pathogens has become a challenge over past decades, bringing about genuine and frequently deadly contaminations that can't be dealt with by ordinary means. This has led to a search on developing solutions to this problem by searching for new source of antimicrobial agents or chemically altering the existing ones. Traditional medicinal plants and nanoparticles are highly targeted as promising agents to address the challenge. Pyrenacantha grandiflora Baill from Icacenaceae family possess pharmaceutical activities and is used by Vhavenda people to cure gastrointestinal related infections, diarrhea and tooth pain. OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to synthesize, characterize and evaluate the efficacy of Pyranacantha grandiflora extracts alone and when conjugated with selected nanoparticles against pathogenic microorganisms. Furthermore, this study investigated the efficacy of selected antibiotics when conjugated with nanoparticles against selected pathogenic microbes. METHODS: Pyrenacantha grandiflora Baill (tubers) were collected from Masisi area. Bioactive compounds were extracted using different solvents such as methanol, acetone, hot water, dichloromethane and chloroform. Preliminary phytochemical screening was done to identify different phytochemicals in the extracts and their functional groups were identified by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Extracts were further assessed for their total phenolic and flavonoids content. Thin layer chromatography was used to separate the compounds from the plant extracts and active compounds/group of compounds were identified by bioautography. The antioxidant ability of the extracts to scavenge free radical DPPH was also determined. Silver and gold nanoparticles were synthesized using chemical and biological methods, characterized by Ultraviolet-Visible Spectrophotometry (UV-VIS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX). Plant extracts, nanoparticles and antibiotics were xix conjugated differently, and conjugates were analyzed by FTIR and their antimicrobial activities were evaluated against different bacteria and fungi. The conjugates were tested for antimicrobial activity against extended beta-lactamase producing Escherichia coli (ATCC 35218), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 33591) and beta-lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumonia (ATCC 700603) using agar diffusion assay and the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were determined using the microdilution method. The minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) were determined by sub-culturing from the MIC plates on Mueller-Hinton Agar. RESULTS: Pyrenacantha grandiflora was found to contain phenolics, saponins, alkaloids, tannin, steroids, terpenoids and flavonoids. FTIR spectroscopic studies revealed different characteristic peak values with various functional compounds similar in most extracts but differed with transmittance values. The total phenolic contents in the examined extracts ranged from 14.167 to 19.02 mg GA/g. The total flavonoid content in the examined extracts ranged from 26.603 to 34.621 mg QE/g. Thin-layer chromatography revealed various Rf values and when analyzed with bioautography, well-defined inhibition zones within the Rf value of 0.236 was identified against E. coli and K. pneumonia. The MICs of the extracts were determined, and all the extracts showed some antimicrobial activity against all tested strains ranging from 0.06-7.5 mg ml/g. Some extracts appeared to be fungicidal and hot water extracts were more active against Cryptococcus neoformans with the MFC value of 0.06 mg/ml. The methanol extract was also active against most tested strains including Candida tropicalis with the minimum fungicidal concentration value of 3.75 mg/ml. Pyrenacantha grandiflora tuber extracts conjugated with silver or gold nanoparticles exhibited a good antibacterial activity against all bacterial strain used and very few were able to exhibit bactericidal activity. Penicillin showed improvement of antibacterial activity xx when conjugated with compounds from the acetone extracts and vancomycin was found to be more effective when conjugated with silver nanoparticles and water extracts. CONCLUSION: The present study validated the efficacy of conjugated P. grandiflora tuber extracts which is used in traditional medicine. The results revealed that water extracts which are generally used by the traditional healers are active against most microorganisms tested as well as methanol and acetone extracts and the synergistic effect was observed when they were conjugated to gold and silver nanoparticles. The results of the present investigation clearly indicate that antimicrobial activity of Pyrenacantha grandiflora Baill tuber when conjugated with selected nanoparticles and antibiotics vary with test strain and the type of solvent used during extraction, thus giving hope for future development of drug leads. / NRF